There seems to be no end in sight in the face-off between the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and the Senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
In the midst of the dust raised by Akpoti Uduaghan’s allegation of sexual harassment against Akpabio, following her suspension from the Senate on March 6 for gross misconduct and unruly behaviour over the rearrangement of seats in the upper chamber, the Kogi senator has again claimed that the Senate President repeatedly threw suggestive and lewd comments her way.
In an interview with the BBC, Akpoti-Uduaghan restated that the “gross misconduct” on which her suspension was premised was a smokescreen to silence her.
She said Akpabio frequently made sexual advances towards her in and out of the Senate chamber — and sometimes before other senators.
She alleged that Akpabio would “squeeze my hands in a very suggestive way.
“There was a time I forgot to wear my ring because I rushed to work. And there were about five senators there. And Akpabio said, ‘Oh, Natasha, you are not wearing your ring… is this an invitation to treat?”
“There was another time he made a statement like ‘Natasha, your husband is really enjoying. It looks like you’d be able to make good movements with your waist’.
“He makes such sexist statements. And then they (other senators) all laughed.”
Akpoti-Uduaghan broke down in tears when the interviewer asked what impact her victim shaming and intimidation claims have had on her.
“People don’t understand what it means to carry this. Maybe we don’t talk about it enough in Nigeria or Africa,” the senator said in between sobs.
“I just want a place where I would just work. I thought the worst was over, but I guess for a woman, it’s never really over, right?”
She, however, added that the positive is that some female parliamentarians from across Africa had been ringing her up to encourage her — and to say they face similar sexually charged, male dominated environments in their respective workplaces.
Meanwhile, a Federal High Court sitting in Lokoja has issued an interim injunction stopping the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from receiving petitions to initiate a recall process against Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan.
Also, on Friday, a Kenyan lawmaker, Senator Crystal Asige, called for support for Akpoti-Uduaghan seeking justice over alleged sexual harassment by the Senate President.
The alleged move to recall the suspended senator had gained momentum on Thursday, with some groups and individuals in her constituency believed to be supporting the process.
The court, which gave the order on Thursday, also restricted INEC staff, agents, privies, or assigns from accepting or acting on any petition containing signatures of purported members of the Kogi Central Senatorial District and from conducting any referendum pending the determination of the motion on notice to the same effect.
According to the court order made available to newsmen in Abuja yesterday, the court granted the application following an ex-parte application for an interim injunction supported by an affidavit of extreme urgency.
The court processes were sworn to by Anebe Jacob Ogirima for himself and four others who are registered voters and constituents of the Kogi Central Senatorial District of Kogi State.
However, the application was moved by Smart Nwachimere, Esq., of West-Idahosa, SAN & Co., while the case was adjourned till May 6, 2025, for a report of service and further mention.
Kenyan Senator Crystal Asige, who spoke at a pre-event press conference for a colloquium organised by the Haske Satumari Foundation, described sexual harassment of the female gender as systemic and called for a change of mindset in Africa to eliminate the menaces.
The visually impaired Senator Asige, who was in Abuja as a keynote speaker at the colloquium with theme “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Social Justice” billed to take place on Saturday at the Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja, called for affirmative legislations in African countries to allow for diversity and inclusion of women and persons living with disabilities to be in parliaments.
Responding to a question on how to curb incidences of sexual harassment in politics, Senator Asige said: “Yes, you are correct. I’ve been following your news very keenly and harassment for women is unfortunately almost a daily occurrence.
“Personally, yes, I have gone through experiences where I have been propositioned or suggestions have been made to me and so on and so forth.
“But I think because of who I am and how I’ve been brought up and I have found ways to try and maneuver through them.
“I believe that it’s an issue that is really systemic because of patriarchy and how men have been led to believe that they are the ones who should sit at the head of the table, for example.
“’You are the man of the house. The girls should sit in the kitchen and the boys should be the ones to participate in day-to-day life, for example.’
“So, we teach this to our societies from a very young age and then it culminates in some sort of a power trip. Some people take that on as a power, sort of like a tactic and, unfortunately, I have gone through that.”
